


Let the Games Begin

by triplefire



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Azula is good and a Zukka shipper, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), First Meetings, Game Night, M/M, Meet-Cute, Not Beta Read, barely a college-au they're just college-aged, sokka has a crush, some swearing and like one reference to sex, somewhat excessive banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27069448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triplefire/pseuds/triplefire
Summary: The Gaang and Azula have a weekly game night.  Sokka mercilessly teases Azula that her elusive brother doesn't actually exist, until he makes an unexpected appearance one night.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 646





	Let the Games Begin

Sokka moved his shoe token five spaces ahead and groaned.

“Pay up, bitch!!!” Toph cackled.

Sokka counted out his colorful stack of fake money, mumbling a few choice words under his breath.

“What’s that, Snoozles?” Toph exaggeratingly held her hand up to her ear. “I can’t hear you.”

“Shut it, Toph.”

Suki merely laughed from the couch as she grabbed the half empty chip bowl from the table and placed it on her lap. 

“What’d I miss?” Katara asked, returning from the restroom. She plopped down next to Aang, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor and preparing to roll the dice for his turn.

A sneering voice to Sokka’s right said, “Your brother is proving what a sore loser he can be. Which is odd, considering how much experience he has in the role.”

Sokka let out a huff. “Thanks for that, Azula.”

Azula’s lips curled into a sickly sweet smile. “Any time.”

“I’m just no good at Monopoly. It’s boring and I can’t get emotionally invested in a make-believe hotel industry,” Sokka said, trying and failing to not sound defensive.

“Especially when you can’t afford a single hotel,” said Toph. Suki snorted. 

“I said shut it!”

“I will destroy you.” Toph pointed at her two eyes and then directed the fingers at Sokka, mock-threateningly. “Better not see you loitering on the corner of Park Place and Boardwalk.” Sokka did not bring up the fact that Toph was blind and couldn’t technically **_see_ ** him anywhere. Mostly because if he did bring it up, Toph would just say that she would still be able to kick his ass which was, unfortunately, very true.

“Whatever. Why can’t we play something else?” Sokka gestured at the pile of games that were sitting next to the TV stand in Azula’s living room. “How ‘bout Risk? I could totally beat all you losers at Risk. That’s a real strategy game and I’m the Einstein of strategy.”

“Too bad you’re not the Einstein of having any money left,” Toph retorted.

“I haven’t played Risk in years,” said Azula, her eyes lit up with an enthusiasm that looked a bit too menacing for Sokka’s taste. “I used to love the game but Zuko said it made me too...aggressive.” She sighed, then looked pointedly at Sokka. “You would never survive.”

Sokka’s mind was no longer on Risk. “Right, Zuko. Your make-believe brother. Damn I wish you weren’t so lonely, Azula. This is just getting embarrassing.”

Teasing Azula about her alleged brother was one of Sokka’s passions. It had started a couple months ago, when Katara announced that she had a new friend she wanted to add to their game nights. Azula. When Katara had first said this, Sokka couldn’t believe his ears. Azula had been the topic of many a Katara rant in the past. They shared a few classes their freshman year of college and apparently Azula was an “entitled snob” and an “immature bully.” But that was a year ago, and it seemed like the ice had thawed between them and their nemesis-dynamic had melted into grudging respect for each other’s talents and then, somewhere along the way, that respect turned into actual friendship. The two of them were **_pals_ ** , and Katara discovered Azula was as nerdy about game nights as she was. Ever since then, Azula had been added to the group and they now alternated their Friday game nights between Katara & Sokka’s shared apartment and Azula & Zuko’s shared apartment. Or, at least, Azula **_said_ ** she shared an apartment with her brother Zuko. But that remained to be seen. There were no pictures of him around the place, and he never made an appearance during their game nights. He was always ‘out.’ So Sokka made it a recurring bit that Azula was so delusional that she had invented some sort of ‘mystery brother’ to pretend that she did not, in fact, live alone.

Azula merely stared at Sokka after his latest teasing statement. She held out her palm as Aang glumly handed her the 2,000 Monopoly bucks he owed her for landing on one of her properties. 

“Sorry, sorry, I know this is a sore subject. Please tell us more about your imaginary bro. I love when you dabble in freeform creative writing.“

Azula paused, pursing her lips. But there was an inscrutable glint in her eyes. “I bet you would like him.”

Sokka snorted. “If he’s as scary as you, I’m not sure I would.”

“He’s not half as scary.” She moved her tophat piece forward. “I imagine you’d find him rather cute.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Sorry, I prefer my crushes to be real and in the flesh. Just a personal preference. Not sure if you can relate.”

Truth be told, Sokka **_had_** noticed hints and traces of Azula’s elusive brother’s existence, and he had made it a habit of mentally cataloguing each one. A leather jacket hanging off the back of a chair. A blue mask proudly displayed on the living room wall (“From Zuko’s theater kid phase,” per Azula). A stack of Shakespeare plays, graphic novels and a beat up copy of Kerouac’s On The Road that had made Azula laugh when Sokka asked if the collection belonged to her. 

“Have you ever invited Zuko to game night?” Katara asked.

Azula shrugged and handed the dice to Sokka. “Fridays are his date night. Or his… whatever night. He’s always out.”

Sokka propped up his chin on his hand and sighed, ignoring the dice in his other hand. “Friday date nights...must be nice.”

Katara leaned over the coffee table and the Monopoly board in between them to shove Sokka’s shoulder. “C’mon Sokka. Aren’t you having fun?”

“Loads. I love hanging out with my sister, her aggressively nerdy friends and my smugly hot ex-girlfriend every single Friday night. No offense Suki.”

“None taken,” Suki said with a wink, validating his statement. They had broken up more than a year ago and had settled into a breezy, platonic friendship. He was ever-grateful that their easygoing banter survived the breakup. To be honest, he was ever-grateful to have such an interesting, compassionate sister, and to get along with her objectively nerdy but also objectively fun friends. Even Azula was slowly growing on him. But still. Sokka did wish he had...at least **_something_ ** going on in the romance department. He hadn’t dated much since he and Suki split. 

Forty-five minutes later and a lot more money lost (on Sokka’s part, Toph was close to becoming a hotel tycoon at this point), Sokka heard the front door opening and then slamming shut. A few moments later, a man appeared in the doorway, clearly rushing from the front door to a different room with no intention of stopping in the living room.

“Hello, Brother,” Azula said, stopping the man in his tracks. He turned his head to look at the group and Sokka--

Oh. 

Oh, Spirits. 

Sokka couldn’t think of anything except that this man--Zuko--looked like...well, sex. He looked like sex personified. His wild, rumpled inky black hair swept over his face in a perfectly-disheveled accidentally-on-purpose manner. His eyes were a gorgeous, light honey-brown. A scar covered one of his eyes, and his body looked lean but muscled. And if all of that weren’t hot enough, his lips were red, spit-slick and swollen, and there was an obvious hickey growing between the space where his neck met the collar of a black button-up shirt. 

“Azula...” said Zuko and FUCK if that wasn’t the sexiest, raspiest low voice Sokka’s ears had ever had the pleasure of hearing. Zuko’s eyes scanned the room. Sokka’s heart stuttered when Zuko’s gaze paused on his face for a moment. **_Probably because you’re gaping like an idiot,_ ** his mind supplied unhelpfully. Zuko tore his eyes away and nodded. “...and everyone. Hello.”

A hushed chorus of ‘hellos’ slipped out of the group. Looks like Sokka wasn’t the only person who was...processing. 

“I hope your front-door-necking didn’t get too out of control this time. I can only imagine Mrs. Sheffley from 103 is sick and tired of reporting you to the superintendent.”

Zuko pressed his lips into a flat line. “Right, well. I’m gonna…” he trailed off and then turned on his heels and headed deeper into the apartment.

Azula shrugged and took a sip of soda from her cup. Everyone else was frozen and silent.

Katara spoke up. “So...that’s Zuko.”

“He looks, um. Cool,” Aang said. 

Sokka said nothing, just scratched at the trimmed hair on the side of his head. He couldn’t dare speak, not trusting his words.

“Why is everyone acting so weird?” Toph finally said. “Is Zuko hot or something?”

There was silence for another moment, before Suki muttered, “Yes. Very.”

Toph cackled. “Does Sokka’s head look like it’s gonna explode?”

Suki shot him a glance. “Absolutely.”

“Figures. Snoozles only shuts up when something pretty walks by.”

Sokka stood up suddenly, almost knocking the gameboard off the table in the process. “I...pee. I pee now.”

He pretended to ignore Azula’s evilly smug expression as he wandered out of the room. He fully intended to actually go to the restroom, hoping that by the time he returned the others would have gotten the Hot Zuko topic out of their system. But on the way to the bathroom he bumped into none other than…

“Zuko! Uh.”

Zuko was clearly heading to the bathroom to shower. He was, fortunately for Sokka’s eyes but unfortunately for Sokka’s nerves, wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist. Not wanting to linger for too long on his chiseled chest, Sokka’s eyes gravitated up toward the hickey. Nope. Bad idea. He cleared his throat, reminding himself that staring at his sort-of-friend’s almost-naked hot brother for a prolonged amount of time was Not A Cool Move.

Zuko said nothing at all. He looked… understandably startled. 

“Hi, I’m… I’m. Well, I’m Katara’s brother.”

Zuko nodded slowly. “Nice to meet you, Katara’s brother. I’ll just…” he gestured behind his shoulder, at what was almost certainly his bedroom door “Give you a sec and shower later.”

Zuko turned around and quickly retreated into his bedroom. 

“I’m Sokka!” he finally said after the door clicked shut. Sokka sighed. Wonderful. 

Sokka hurried into the bathroom, lowered the toilet seat lid and sat down. He definitely was not going to actually pee and he definitely was never going to leave the bathroom. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to will his thrumming heart to slow down. Why was he reacting this way? He had seen hot people before. Hell, he had even spoken to hot people before. Full sentences, little to no awkwardness. Sokka rubbed at his closed eyes in frustration. Well, it had been a long time. A long time since he felt any sort of meaningful interest in someone. And he had come out as bi **_months_** ago but...well, he **_knew_ ** he was bi and he was almost certain that hooking up with a cute guy would be extremely enjoyable for himself but he hadn’t technically tested out that theory in person. His mind drifted toward the all-too-recent memory of Zuko, the ripcord muscle of his shoulders, the well-defined pecs...the stupid towel hanging precariously from his waist, not fully covering his delectable hip bones. The piercing bright eyes that looked beautiful even when seemingly judging Sokka for being such a leer-y freak. Damn. Fuck. Zuko was… how was it legal to look that gorgeous?

Sokka heard a faint knock. It must be on Zuko’s door. After a moment he heard the door creak open.

“Do you want me to ask everyone to leave?” 

It was Azula’s voice but...different. Softer and more patient than he had ever heard it before.

“No.”

“Are you...okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re back a lot earlier than usual.”

“I’m fine.”

“Was it Jet? Were you with Jet?”

“I’m fine, Azula.”

“Just because you say you’re fine over and over again doesn’t magically make it true.”

There was a pause, a lapse into silence when neither sibling spoke. Finally, Azula continued. “Do you want to play Monopoly?”

“Thank you, but I’d rather die.”

“Suit yourself. There’s no need to be afraid, you know. You wouldn’t even be the worst player in the group, as long as Sokka’s present.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. Suddenly it seemed pretty fucking likely that Azula knew he could hear their conversation.

“Is Sokka the...the one with the blue eyes?”

“Yes. He is.” Sokka could **_hear_ ** the smirk on her lips. There was silence again. “Is that it?”

“Mm.”

“I’m sure Sokka with the blue eyes would enjoy game night a lot more if you came around. He’s always moaning about how single he--”

Zuko cut her off curtly, “Goodnight, Azula.”  
  
“Goodnight, Brother.”

Sokka heard the door close. He dropped his head into his hands. Well. At least he knew for sure Zuko wasn’t interested. 

~***~

Two weeks later Sokka was standing with Toph, Suki, Katara and Aang as they waited for the door to swing open and for game night to commence. While Katara and Toph bickered about which of the snack foods they had purchased along the way was the most delicious (Katara argued the dry mango strips, Toph said sour gummy watermelons all the way), Sokka tried not to think about Zuko standing at this very place, aggressively making out with some hottie that Sokka would never be able to compete with. He sighed to himself. He needed to get over this stupid crush. He had only spent 1 minute in Zuko’s presence and it sure seemed like Zuko wasn’t interested in allowing Sokka to spend a single second more. And why would he be? Sokka had been a stuttering weirdo when they had met. Hard to come back from that. 

The apartment door opened to reveal Azula and --

“Zuko!” Katara cried. “Hi! Are you joining game night?”

Sokka’s jaw dropped in spite of himself. There he was, wearing a black Henley and black jeans with a massive rip on the left knee. His hair was down again, sweeping over one of his eyes.

“I talked some sense into him,” Azula said with one of her poisonous smiles. 

The gang shuffled in, and Zuko retreated back into the apartment. Just as Sokka was about to cross the threshold, Azula grabbed Sokka by his shirt collar and held him in place.

“Not so fast. I would like to have a word with you.”

Sokka tried not to gulp. He couldn’t help but be intimidated by Azula, even if her sharp edges had apparently softened lately.

“Don’t fuck this up.”

“Fuck what up? It’s just Battleship, Azula. I’m aces at Battleship.”

“You’re terrible at Battleship and every other game in existence but that’s not what I’m talking about." She jammed her index finger into his chest. “Don’t fuck this up.” Sokka tried to open his mouth to voice his confusion but she pressed on. “It took a lot of convincing to make Zuko stick around here tonight and if you just get a hold of yourself I think you might not have to worry about your dateless weekends any longer.”

“What? I--” he sputtered.

“Stop. I know you like him and I know he likes you. You’re both so easy and honestly...a little shallow. One sighting of him in a towel and you go nonverbal and hide in a bathroom for 20 minutes? I thought you were better than that Sokka.”

“No you didn’t.”

“No I didn’t. OK, listen. You’re a bit of a dork and you can’t hold your own on game night to save your life but you’re a nice guy and a good person and Zuko could really use that. He doesn’t think he deserves someone nice, but he does. So you’re going to go in there and be pleasant and attentive and do that smile thing where you grin all big and stupid and I’m sure you’ll win him over in no time.”

“I thought he was… seeing someone?”

Azula snorted. “Jet doesn’t count as someone. It’s not serious. Zuko just goes out a lot but he’s definitely single.”

“Can we circle back to when you said he liked me?”

“No time,” Azula dragged Sokka further inside the apartment. “We’re already acting suspicious. Now go in there and be charming.”

Azula shoved Sokka into the living room and there Zuko was, perched at the far end of the couch, looking slightly terrified of the going-ons around him. He seemed to be sitting as still as possible, as if he hoped that remaining frozen for the entire night would trick the rest of the rowdy strangers in the room to forget he was present.

Sokka glanced at Azula and she threw him a pointed look. Sokka sighed. What the hell. There were worse things to do than flirt with a hot guy extremely out of his league while his kid sister’s friends tried to kick his ass at battleship. 

Sokka strode over to the couch and plopped down next to Zuko, their thighs touching lightly. He looked over at Zuko and grinned. “No towel tonight?”

Zuko’s golden eyes narrowed. 

~***~

Sokka made little headway on Operation Charm Zuko throughout the night. Zuko did not seem inclined to converse with anyone, least of all the creeper who had gawked at him two weeks prior. Every so often Azula would shoot Sokka a look that said Try Harder or Zuko a look that said Be Nice, and it seemed like both men were keen on ignoring her. Sokka found it hard to be too disappointed about all of that when he, against everyone’s expectations except for his own, actually won three games of Battleship in a row. 

“I’ve sunk your what?” Sokka asked gleefully.

“C’mon Sokka,” Katara moaned.

“I’ve sunk your what?” he asked again, undeterred.

“My Battleship,” Aang replied with a sigh.

“That’s right! F7 Motherfucker! F7!”

“You sound unhinged.”

“Sorry Katara I can’t hear you over the roaring applause of my 3 consecutive wins.”

“Definitely unhinged,” said Suki.

Sokka heard a rusty chuckle to his right and whipped his head to look at Zuko. He felt his heart tap dancing against his chest because Zuko was actually smiling and it was beautiful. A radiant gleam of white teeth, a sparkling playfulness shining through his eyes. 

“What was that?” Sokka asked.

Zuko’s smile wavered. “What was what?”

“That sound. Was that your laugh?”

Zuko’s cheeks turned pink. “Yes. So?”

Sokka couldn’t help himself. The words tumbled out of his mouth without permission from his brain: “OHMYGOD it was so cute, do it again.”

Zuko’s face grew even more red as he shot up in his seat as if he had been electrocuted. He grabbed the empty bowl from the table. “I’m... I’ll grab more chips.” He hurried out of the room toward the kitchen.

OK. _**OK**_. It was now or never. “”Scuse me kiddos.”

“Now where are **_you_** wandering off to?” Suki asked with a knowing glint in her eye. 

“Just making myself scarce so one of you poor souls finally has a shot at winning.”

He sauntered off to join Zuko in the kitchen. Zuko had already filled up the chip bowl and was just standing at the kitchen table, staring down, looking intensely lost in thought. He jolted when Sokka entered the room.

Sokka grabbed a glass from the counter and went to the sink to fill it up with tap water. Alright. One more try to force a conversation out of this dude. “S’cool that you joined us tonight.”

“Mm? Oh. Yes. Well. Azula made me.”

Sokka laughed. “Trust me. No one understands over-powering little sisters the way I do.”

Zuko’s lips upturned into a careful smile. Sokka held in a romantic sigh. He really was dreamy. He was devastatingly gorgeous but there was an obvious awkward softness about him. Sokka hadn’t noticed that intriguing contrast before this moment, but he was becoming swiftly addicted to it. 

The pinkness dusting Zuko’s cheeks complemented his rosy lips nicely. 

“So what’s your life story, Zuko?”

Zuko’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Not to come off as a creep, but I’ve definitely noticed things about you. I mean, before I met you. Azula showed us those gnarly swords you own. She’s mentioned you spent a lot of time in the theater growing up. Then there’s all the books you leave around here. Classical lit, comics, poetry, beatnik novels. My eyes almost left my socket when I saw the motorcycle helmet on the counter one time. Eclectic tastes. You seem like a hell of a guy.”

“You’ve been compiling clues about me during your game nights?” Zuko said, and Sokka prayed he wasn’t imagining that Zuko’s tentative smile had widened ever so slightly.

“Maybe.” He took a sip of water from the glass in his hand. “Still couldn’t believe it when I finally saw you, though. 

Zuko’s grin faltered. He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I guess I make a...weird first impression.” He scratched at his scarred cheek and looked down.

“Weird? Hm.” Sokka looked up, pretending to think hard. “No, I’d say... soul-crushingly hot.”

Zuko looked surprised again. “What?”

“I think you make a soul-crushingly hot first impression. You should really warn people before you enter rooms unexpectedly.”

“Stop it,” Zuko said, and there was that pretty blush again.

“I thought I was going to combust.”

The two of them just stood still, staring at each other. Sokka felt his face grow warm and he was nervous to keep going but he really, really wanted to keep going. “Azula says you’re single?”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “Azula needs to stop talking about my personal life but. Yeah. I’m not really seeing anyone. Not seriously.”

Sokka nodded slowly.

“I know that last time you saw me...it probably looked...I’ve been doing a casual thing with someone but it’s definitely not. Not a relationship. I’m not really dating or anything.”

“Are you interested in dating?”

Zuko’s lips quirked up. “Dating in general, or with you specifically?”

“Oh, just in general,” Sokka joked. “I interrogate the romantic preferences of all individuals who participate in game night.”

Zuko let out another soft chuckle. It sounded so warm and soft. “I’m interested in dating beautiful blue-eyed boys with perfect tans and nice hands who cheat at Battleship.”

“Hey, I did NOT cheat at Battleship.”

“Then I guess I can’t date you.”

The two of them stood there, grinning at each other like idiots. 

Suddenly Toph’s voice pierced through their haze, calling out from the other room. “Are the two of you done making googly eyes at each other? We want to play Uno.”

Sokka laughed sheepishly. “Coming!” His eyes darted back at Zuko. “Whaddaya say? A couple rounds of Uno and then we make ourselves scarce, maybe celebrate my many, many wins over drinks?”

Zuko grabbed the freshly filled chip bowl from the table, then shrugged. “Play your cards right,” he said with a crooked smile, his eyes warm and teasing. He walked back into the living room.

Sokka knocked back the rest of his water and placed the glass in the sink, still feeling extremely thirsty. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've read about a million fics but I've never published one under this account before so...here!


End file.
